The chromatin remodeling complex plays an important role in the growth and development of animals and plants by directly regulating the distribution and density of nucleosomes and then affecting the binding of transcription factors to target genes
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The chromatin of Arabidopsis also has higher-order structures similar to those of animals, such as chromatin regions and A/B compartments
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However, whether and how the plant chromatin remodeling complex regulates the three-dimensional higher-order structure of chromosomes is largely unknown
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On April 22, 2022, Zhou Yue's research group from the State Key Laboratory of Protein and Plant Gene Research, the School of Modern Agriculture of Peking University, and the Peking University-Tsinghua University Life Science Joint Center published an online article entitled "Chromatin remodeling complexes" on The Plant Cell.
The research paper "regulated genome architecture in Arabidopsis" revealed the molecular mechanism by which the chromosome remodeling complex maintains the level of H3K27me3 by regulating the distribution and density of nucleosomes, thereby preventing chromosomal compartment turnover
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Zhou Yue's group collected mutants of four conserved ATPase catalytic subunits of the chromosome remodeling complex in Arabidopsis thaliana, and analyzed the chromosomal 3D structures of these four core subunit mutants through genetics and multi-omics methods
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The results showed that mutants of four different chromatin remodeling complexes all exhibited the phenomenon of chromatin compartment turnover, and the compartment strength was also significantly reduced
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The transformation of chromatin compartment mainly occurs when the B compartment turns to A compartment, and the four types of chromatin remodeling complexes after mutation all form a continuous A compartment in the chromosome arms
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Further analysis found that the inverted B compartment was enriched for H3K27me3 modification, and H3K27me3 levels were significantly reduced in the compartmental inverted region in four different classes of chromatin remodeler mutants
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Comparing mutants with complete elimination of H3K27me3, it was found that high levels of H3K27me3 modification prevent compartment turnover
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To answer how the chromatin reorganization complex maintains H3K27me3 levels, nucleosome density and distribution were examined by MNase-seq
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Our data suggest that four distinct chromatin remodeling complexes affect H3K27me3 levels by maintaining nucleosome density and regulating nucleosome distribution, thereby preventing chromosomal compartment turnover (Figure 1)
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Figure 1 The chromosome remodeling complex regulates the higher-order structure of plant chromosomes
Yang Tingting, a postdoctoral fellow at the School of Modern Agriculture, Peking University, Dingyue Wang, Tian Guangmei, a postdoctoral fellow at the School of Modern Agriculture, Peking University, and Sun Linhua, a postdoctoral fellow at the School of Modern Agriculture, Peking University, are co-first authors, and Zhou Yue, a researcher at the School of Modern Agriculture, Peking University, is the corresponding author
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The Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences also participated in the study
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The research was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the State Key Laboratory of Protein and Plant Genetic Research, the School of Modern Agriculture, Peking University, and the Peking University-Tsinghua University Life Science Joint Center
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This research group recruits doctoral students all the year round.
Students who are interested in the field of plant epigenetic research are welcome to apply for CLS and PTN projects, or the School of Modern Agriculture of Peking University
.
